In all honesty, I don't feel like celebrating. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know why. I've sat down to try and work these few days and my thoughts vaporise like frost in the morning sunshine. But as I stepped outside my door this morning to take the kids to school I looked up and snapped the above photograph from my driveway. After a nasty … [Read More...]

I'll start off this week's celebrations with the above picture. Readers might recognise this poem 'postcard' from my #miscpoetry project - if you click through to the link you'll see them all in a single post. Since then, they've been sitting in my drawer and I thought to myself, "What else can be … [Read More...]

In some ways, I'm picking the worst month to do a creative challenge. I'll be busy conducting workshops, putting together another for an event that (for the moment) has to be kept hush-hush, keeping kids entertained during school holidays and a few other things besides those.
But I was thinking … [Read More...]

By Australian road trip standards, England is easy, right? The country is only a few hours from top to bottom, isn't it? Ah, well. I'll stop you there. Yes, there is less territory to cross. But there are a few things it's best to first be aware of. Once you're sorted out, enjoy the wonderful sights … [Read More...]

What am I celebrating this week?
Enjoying watching the kids draw chalk pictures on our driveway.
Almost getting to the end of the latest season of Game of Thrones. Alas, I was only able to avoid spoilers for so long!
The Sydney Writers Festival podcasts of Helen Garner and … [Read More...]

It's been one of those weeks when literally every piece of news or email I've been waiting for arrived at the same time. Not in a trickling, gentle sense, but in the PROCESS IT ALL NOW NOW NOW way.
As such, I've been sitting and dealing with these matters but combined with writing, too, I've been … [Read More...]

If you have LEGO-mad kids, then this is certainly a place that would be of interest to them to go and visit. But does it stand up to being a fun day out for the entire family? Well, that's debatable.
The Positives
We all enjoyed the Miniland display, an impressive array of complicated roads, … [Read More...]

Boy, Friday rolls around quickly! Another week, more things to celebrate! Let's get started.
So this happened:
*whispers* I think I've finished the draft. #manuscript
— Karen Andrews (@KarenAndrewsAU) June 18, 2015
There's still things I need to insert and change, and no … [Read More...]

In wanting to write this post, I've found myself at a crossroads. The number of times I've chosen to tell stories about the kids over recent years has dwindled, and this has been a deliberate decision. Of course, I could tell many, many more, but I am conscious of their opinions and worry … [Read More...]

Adam took this photo (it's a huge advantage being tall!) the moment the doors of the Great Hall began to inch open. I'm standing in front, next to Riley, and I tell you I was excited. As an unabashed Harry Potter fan, I wanted the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour to be good; not walk away … [Read More...]

Every Friday during school term, Riley sits down to eat his breakfast and you can almost guarantee that while he's eating will say at least once, "Friday! It's almost the weekend! I love Fridays."
In that same celebratory spirit, I thought I would start up a regular 'Friday Celebrations' series, … [Read More...]

I haven't covered the England leg of our trip yet - with the exception of Whitby - and I'll start today. Adam works with several people from England and upon hearing we were going to be travelling around the country told him, "You must visit Warwick Castle!" My own research into the place had turned … [Read More...]

We spent two days and three nights in beautiful, mysterious Venice. Like Rome, I had heard differing accounts of the city and was curious to find out on which 'side of the fence' I'd land. After visiting, I'm definitely on the 'pro' side - but we learned a few things along the way that … [Read More...]